This invention relates to bulk bins. More particularly, this invention relates to bulk bins made of paperboard or similar material.
Bulk bins made of paperboard or similar material are well known in the art and widely used to hold quantities of many different types of bulk materials. One of the problems with paperboard bulk bins is that the side walls have a tendency to bulge when the bin is filled to capacity or near capacity. One known way that is often employed to reduce side wall bulging is to insert some type of supporting member inside the bin to reinforce the side walls. Such supporting members have proven to be fairly complicated in structure and have consumed significant amounts of paperboard in their construction. Another known way that is often used to reduce side wall bulging is to connect opposing side walls of the bin with some type of bridge or strut. It has been found that these bridges or struts are complicated in structure, require significant amounts of paperboard and interfere with the use of the bin as a container for holding materials. Furthermore such bridges or struts are limited to bins having an even number of side walls. In any event, for one reason or another, neither of these arrangements has proven to be entirely satisfactory from a functional or structural standpoint. Examples of bulk bins constructed from paperboard may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,904,365; 2,091,201; 3,000,496; 3,526,352; and 3,945,558 and examples of containers which utilize a bridge or strut connected to opposing side walls to reduce side wall bulging may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,047,204; 3,197,113; and 3,946,935.